Iorek Byrnison
Iorek Byrnison was a panserbjørn and the king of Svalbard. He was a great friend and comrade to both Lyra Silvertongue and Lee Scoresby. Biography Exile Iorek was the heir to the throne of Svalbard. He fought against Hjalmur Hjalmurson in a ritual of dominance to win over a female bear. However, the other bear had been drugged and would not back down when he was defeated. This led to Byrnison killing the bear, which was strictly forbidden, and he was condemned to exile. Novy Odense for the first time]] On 15 April 1962, Byrnison met Lee Scoresby for the first time. Together they helped H van Breda to defy Larsen Manganese by removing his cargo from their warehouse and leaving the island. The pair then escaped in the aëronaut's balloon. Trollesund By 1997, Iorek Byrnison was working for the citizens of Trollesund, having been deceived when they gave him alcohol and took his sky-iron armour while he was intoxicated. After the citizens had tricked him, Iorek went into a rampage, trying to find his armour, destroying buildings and even killing at least two people. The townspeople would have shot him if they didn't want him for his skill in metalwork, being a bear. The townspeople made him work every day, making him promise to work until sunset sometimes, and then gave him his pay in food and spirits behind Einarsson's Bar. They told him that he would continue to work for them until he had been punished enough for killing two men and destroying several buildings, although Lyra thought they'd probably never let him out. When Lyra Belacqua and the gyptians arrived in Trollesund, Coram van Texel and Lyra met up with Martin Lanselius who advised them to get an armoured bear to help their mission. The two visited Iorek and Farder Coram talked to him fearlessly about how he came to work for the citizens. Iorek told the that, for him to go and work for them, they must get him his armour back and then he would assist them in their campaign until either Lyra won or he died. The following day, against the advice of Farder Coram and John Faa, Lyra went to Iorek after having used her alethiometer to discover that Byrnison's armour was hidden in the cellar of the local priest's house. Iorek set off almost immediately to get it back, followed by the Sysselman's sentry, and retrieved his armour. Iorek took the Sysselman's sentry, who had been trying to stop him, in his mouth and was about to crush his head until Lyra stopped him. Iorek had, in return, pledged his loyalty to Lyra, agreeing to help her rescue the children from Bolvangar. After Iorek used a seal to oil the joints in his armour, the gyptians set off further north. Severed child es in the sky]] Iorek travelled north with Lyra and the gyptians, under the orders of Lord Faa. When Lyra saw that there was a ghost in a nearby village, Iorek agreed to take her there if John consented. Iorek rode Lyra there and the two discovered the severed child: Tony Makarios. Iorek helped translate a local's words for Lyra when they arrived at the village. After taking him back, the gyptians were horrified by what they saw. Iorek chided them by telling them what this child had gone through, and how they were cowardly stepping away from him in fear. The boy died that night in his sleep. The following day, Lyra went to Iorek and asked him to make two tins, which he did easily, out of a discarded biscuit tin. Lyra put a spy-fly she had captured earlier inside one tin and used the other to fool Farder Coram into thinking it was the one with the spy-fly in. Lyra quizzed Iorek about being alone and what it was like to be a bear. He told her bears were made to be alone and that you couldn't fool a bear, he began to fence with her, blocking all her attacks and not moving when she feigned. Attack Not long after, a group of Samoyed hunters attacked the gyptians with a volley of arrows. Iorek sped at the group, to many screams from the hunters, and began to tear them apart, but Lyra was captured all the same and taken to Bolvangar. Bolvangar When Lyra and the children were ready to escape, Iorek helped them by attacking the Tartar guards that were stationed around the site. He hurled himself past the children as they escaped and at groups of the tartars, killing them quickly before joining back with the gyptians. Many of the children were shocked and scared by his massive form. After Lyra was taken by Marisa Coulter and then taken back by the gyptians, Iorek got into Lee's balloon with Roger Parslow and Lyra and they were pulled away by a group of witches. Return to Svalbard After Lyra fell from Scoresby's balloon and was captured by the panserbjørne on Svalbard, Iorek went to rescue her. Lyra had convinced Iofur Raknison that she was Iorek's dæmon and that she could be transferred to him if he defeated the exiled bear in single combat. For this, Iorek gave Lyra the surname Silvertongue as she had managed to trick a bear. Iorek entered the arena and, inspired by Lyra's ability to trick Iofur, decided to play a similar tactic. They fought for a while before Iorek pretended to have an injured leg. He stumbled backwards and, as Iorefur reared up in victory, Iorek sprang up from a rock he'd managed to get a hold on, and swung his fist at Iofur's jaw, knocking it clean off. Iorek soon defeated Iofur, eating his heart as per custom, and took his righful place as King, destroying all the human objects Iofur had riddled the island with. Bridge to the stars After discussions about what to do with fellow, high-ranking bears, Iorek took Lyra and Roger to Lord Asriel's dwelling on Svalbard when he was being kept a prisoner. Asriel spoke to Iorek about what had happened and, that night, took Roger up a near mountain. Lyra followed with Iorek and a group of bears who accompanied them. Iorek travelled for a while until a group of witches, from the other side, came and attacked them. The group of bears fended them, and Marisa's zeppelin off whilst Iorek led Lyra further up the mountain. Iorek travelled as far as he could go until they came to a small ice bridge that Iorek could not cross, being too heavy. Lyra crossed on her own and Iorek went back to fight with the bears. Avenging a death After the window to the world of Cittàgazze was created by Lord Asriel, the witch Serafina Pekkala visited Iorek. She told him how the witches had invited Lee to their council where Lee told them of his plans to go and try to find Stanislaus Grumman. Serafina had given Lee a little scarlet flower to call upon her if he was in trouble and, a few days later, Serafina got a message from him. She flew to Lee immediately where she found him dead behind a rock after fighting off a zeppelin full of Muscovites. Serafina had placed a spell to prevent his body from corruption and flown to Iorek immediately. Iorek and Serafina exchanged a few more words before Iorek jumped into the sea, swimming into the new world and finding Lee's resting place which Serafina had described. Once there, he ate Lee's corpse and promised to avenge his friend. Migration After Lord Asriel opened the rift to the world of Cittàgazze, the climate of Svalbard changed and Iorek led the bears to the Himalayas, where the weather was more hospitable. The bears paid for a boat and some crew and set off down a river, that usually ran the opposite way, towards Asia. On their way down the river, Iorek wanted to stop at a town to refuel but the townspeople refused. A boy called Will Parry happened to be walking through the town, looking for Lyra, and decided to help the bears before a fight broke out. The boy challenged Iorek to a duel and, if Iorek backed down, the townspeople must give the bears the fuel peacfully. Iorek gave Will one piece of his armour, his helmet, which Will easily cut with the subtle knife. The bears bought the fuel they needed and took Will on the boat, further down the river with them. Will let Iorek examine the knife and told him of his quest to find Lyra who was being held by Marisa in a cave. Iorek promised to assist Will. When they arrived in Asia, the bears were free to roam around and explore the area whilst Will and Iorek travelled together towards the Valley of the Rainbows. Rescuing Lyra When they arrived, Iorek kept out of sight, watching as Will went and spoke to Marisa. Later, once they had heard to approaching zeppelins that belonged to the Magisterium, Iorek stayed on top of the cliff overlooking the cave whilst Will and a girl from the village, Ama, went to rescue Lyra. Iorek got himself involved in the fight, killing many men, before going back into the mountains where there was snow. Lyra, who had escaped, and Will moved through the snow to try and find him and, on the following evening, found Iorek on top of a mountain. Lyra called to him and Iorek came bounding down to greet them. The moved up towards a cave in the mountain to talk and Will told Iorek about the knife. The knife had been broken when Marisa reminded Will of his mother and had split in several places. Halfway through explaining it, Will looked up and saw the two Gallivespian spies: Chevalier Tialys and Lady Salmakia, who had assisted Will the night before. Iorek growled at them until the two Gallivespians apologised for spying but started calling Will a liar for telling them the knife was working. The forge Shortly after, the three built a forge to try and repair the knife. Iorek dictated where to put the wood and began to mend the knife. Will had to imagine the knife coming together in his mind whilst Iorek hammered the metal. When it was fixed, Iorek took Will outside and talked to him. Will explained what they planned to do next. At first, he said "I don't know" which Iorek responded to with a hard hit. Will then explained about Lyra wanting to go to the land of the dead to rescue Roger and how he knew it was difficult. Iorek then took Lyra away and hugged her, licking her hands clean from the soot of the fire. He talked to her and said he needed to go back to Svalbard with his bears as the Himalayas wasn't good for the bears, even the snow was different. Republic of Heaven Whilst in the Republic of Heaven by the basalt fortress, Iorek and a regiment of his subjects fought on Lord Asriel's side in the Battle on the Plain. After meeting Lyra and Will near a river, he let them climb onto his back and took them to a small grove where their lost dæmons were sheltering from some attacking Spectres. Some of the ghosts that had been willing to fight after being freed from the world of the dead were fighting them off, though struggling, as they arrived and, unfortunately, Spectres weren't afraid of ghosts. When he heard the voice of his dead comrade Lee, Iorek stopped dead in his tracks with disbelief and turned to briefly talk to him. Not wasting much time, Lee led Will and Lyra with him through the undergrowth to where their dæmons were hiding. Lyra and Will thanked Iorek quickly before following Lee. After the fight, Iorek and his bears would have sailed back to Svalbard, finding it impossible to live in the Alps as the very snow was different. Physical description Iorek had white fur, although this was tinged with yellow when Lyra first met him from the lack of water he had had to wash in, and black eyes. Although Iorek was quite big, he wasn't as big as Iofur. Personality and traits Like all Panserbjørne, Iorek followed a very strict code of contract, and would in no situation betray a promise he had made. Iorek was extremely proud and formidably selfless, but could be strongly sentimental and piteous. Abilities *'Metallurgy': Like many of Iorek's kind, he is an expert smith. *'Strength': Iorek possessed great strength and could sprint at a high speed for hours. *'Unable to be tricked': Although the townspeople of Trollesund managed to trick him by giving him spirits, Iorek couldn't be tricked by a human whilst sober. Relationships Lee Scoresby After helping Lee in Novy Odense, Iorek and Lee remained friends and trusted each other, with Lee helping out Iorek multiple times. As a last respect to his comrade after he died, Iorek ate Lee's body. Iorek was shocked when he heard Lee's ghost's voice in the world of the dead. Lyra Silvertongue Lyra was nothing more than any other human to Iorek when he first saw her, but he ended up talking to her a lot on their journey in the North and was bound to her by his promise after she had told him where his armour was located. Iorek told her a lot about Svalbard and bears in general and, when Lyra was telling Iorek where his armour was, Iorek watched as she and her dæmon began to pull away from each other. William Parry Will and Iorek were comrades and respected each other, after first stepping down from Will when he wanted a fight, Iorek saw the intelligence and important characters in Will. Iorek helped Will mend the subtle knife but also gave him words of warning about it and what it could do. Behind the scenes * voiced Iorek in the film. *Joe Tandberg voices Iorek in the TV series.BBC Appearances *''Once Upon a Time in the North'' *''Northern Lights'' *''The Golden Compass (film)'' *''The Golden Compass (video game)'' *''Northern Lights - The Graphic Novel'' *''The Subtle Knife'' *''The Amber Spyglass'' *''His Dark Materials (TV series), Series 1 *The Secret Commonwealth'' References it:Iorek Byrnison pt-br:Iorek Byrnison ru:Йорек Бирнисон fr:Iorek Byrnison es:Iorek Byrnison Category:Kings Category:Males Category:Panserbjørne